UFC Fight Night: Ngannou vs. Blaydes 2 provided a lot of action in the prelims and early main card, with a lot of local product showing off their abilities for the Beijing crowd.
Li Jingliang delighted fans with a late finish over the game David Zawada. The Leech finished the German with a side kick to the body and follow-up punches. Song Yadong also pleased the Beijing faithful, by taking a decision victory over late-replacement Vince Morales.
In the prelims there were submission victories for a returning Louis Smolka and a debuting Kevin Holland. There were also a pair of submission victories for the extremely impressive Zhang Weili and Wu Yanan. Also on the card Alex Morono, Yan Xiaonan, Rashad Coulter, and Liu Pingyuan scored decision victories.
Check out the complete results below:
Main Card
Lightweight: Song Yadong def. Vince Morales via decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
The much hyped Song Yadong took the centre of the cage as late replacement Vince Morales looked content to wait for Yadong to come to him. When Yadong did come forwards he landed a hard punch to Morales’ temple. Morales then loosened up some and began throwing in return. Yadong then landed a spinning kick to Morales’ midsection, which Morales largely shrugged off. Yadong’s next attack was a flying knee, which was partially blocked. After a pause, Yadong upped his activity in the final minute, throwing another spinning kick and some speedy combinations.
In the second Morales attempted to keep Yadong at range with his jab. But Yadong was able to find angles to attack from, landing his own jab and chopping leg kicks. Yadong was able to get in on Morales enough times to bloody up the UFC debutante’s nose and cause swelling over his left eye. Morales did land a few strikes of his own, though, catching Yadong coming in with a counter right hand.
Morales looked fired up at the start of the third round. He launched combos at Yadong, challenging the Chinese fighter to do the same in return. After landing some shots, Yadong then got a takedown. Yadong then spent some time in half guard, but wasn’t able to threaten Morales with anything dramatic. Morales defended smartly on the ground, but without the urgency he needed to win the fight. With two minutes remaining Morales went for a kneebar, but Yadong rolled away and ended up back on top of him. But Morales was able to get up. With a minute left Morales swung away and caught Yadong with a nice right hook. Yadong had slowed considerably at this point, but was able to survive Morales late surge to take the decision victory.
Welterweight: Li Jingliang def. David Zawada via KO (kick to the body and punches), round 3 (4:07).
With the crowd roaring him on Li Jingliang stalked David Zawada early on. But the Leech left himself open to a big right hand, which dropped him. Jingliang recovered quickly, though, getting up and then taking down Zawada. In half guard Jingliang got off some hard shots, while Zawada tried to isolate an arm. The German got back to his feet and Jingliang backed off. Zawada then waded forwards stunning Jingliang with another punch. Zawada then landed a hard knee on Jingliang during a clinch against the fence.
Zawada claimed the centre of the cage early on in the second. Jingliang responded by threatening with kicks, one of which thudded into Zawada’s thigh. Zawada tried to size up Jiangling for another big punch, but the Chinese fighter was able to disrupt his timing and land some punches of his own. Both men started exchanging punches in the pocket, both mostly missed, but towards the end of the round each fighter landed at least one decent shot on the other. In the final seconds Jingliang landed a flurry of punches, half of which landed after the bell sounded.
In the third Jingliang landed a hard leg kick on Zawada, further reddening the German’s lead leg. Jingliang grew in confidence from there and started beating Zawada to the punch, landing shots which sent Zawada backpedaling towards the fence. Another low kick hurt Zawada, whose mobility started to suffer. Zawada then went for a takedown against the fence, but Jingliang stuffed it. As the clock ticked to under a minute, Jingliang stepped in with a side-kick that landed hard on Zawada’s body. Zawada crumbled and Jingliang swarmed to force the referee to step in.
Fight Pass Prellims
Middleweight: Alex Morono def. Song Kenan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Alex Morono got the best of Song Kenan early on, landing a few hard single punches that caused the Chinese fighter to stutter. In response Kenan flew forwards trying to start a brawl. He landed some thudding shots, but Morono stayed composed and was able to catch Kenan a few more times with stiff punches. Morono’s offense was a little wild, but he continued to catch Kenan with looping rights, bloodying the Beijing-based fighter.
In round two Morono took the fight to Kenan early on, coming in with more looping offense and leg kicks. Kenan responded in kind, rushing into close range, but still wasn’t able to catch Morono with anything significant. In close range, Morono was again able to land thudding shots to the face and head of Kenan. Kenan switched to a more patient game plan late in the round, trying to score from distance with kicks aimed at Morno’s body and head.
In the third Morono looked to switch things up, landing a takedown which suffered from a Kenan fence-grab. Both fighters were up quickly and Kenan landed a hard shot on Morono that caused blood to start running from the American’s nose. Morono and Kenan were both breathing heavy at this point. With two minutes left Morono took Kenan up against the cage and looked for knees on the inside. Kenan got away though, but he looked exhausted. The final 90 seconds saw Kenan go for a fight ending sequence, but instead he managed to poke Morono in the eye. Morono fell to the ground in agony, causing a pause in the action. With 30 seconds left, both fighters went for the finish, but the buzzer beat them both. Morono was the obvious winner over 15 minutes.
Flyweight: Wu Yanan def. Lauren Mueller via submission (armbar), round 1 (4:00).
After feeling each other out for a couple of minutes, Wu Yanan and Lauren Mueller ended up tied up against the fence. Each fighter took turns with their back against the chain-link, with the other throwing knees. Mueller looked to trip Yanan, but she defended well. The grueling clinch work eventually ended with both fighters landing strikes in the middle of the cage. With around a minute remaining Mueller seized on a slip by Yanan and jumped into top position. But Yanan immediately locked in an armbar. Mueller tapped with nowhere to go.
Light heavyweight: Rashad Coulter def. Hu Yaozong via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Former heavyweights Rashad Coulter and Hu Yaozong had a cautious opening to their 205 lb debuts. Yaozong looked strong as he held Coulter against the fence, but he was unable to land meaningful offense there. Coulter was able to score with knees. When they separated Coulter lunged forward with punches, glancing some off of Yaozong, who responded with a hard leg kick. With under two minutes left of the round Coulter landed a left hook which dropped Yaozong. Yaozong got up and ate a few more hard shots from Coulter, but then caught Coulter with a stiff punch of his own. Both men then clinched against the fence as they tried to recover. The round ended with Coulter teeing off on Yaozong, who somehow survived.
In round two Coulter had success with his jab, while Yaozong missed on kicks. Yaozong again tried to implement his game plan against the fence and again Coulter was able to avoid the Chinese fighters’ offense. When they separated Coulter stepped into a big punch that forced Yaozong to think twice about storming back into range. Coulter then continued to land his jab, bloodying up Yaozong. Yaozong was able to find success with leg kicks, though, forcing Coulter to limp.
Coulter continued to limp and worry about leg kicks in the third round. This opened up opportunities for Yaozong to land head shots and again bully Coulter up against the fence. This time Yaozong was able to land knees and strikes in the clinch. Back in the centre of the cage, Coulter started to tire as Yaozong attempted to finish the fight strongly. Another clinch ensued, with Coulter doggedly defending against the fresher looking Yaozong. But the American would survive the late rush and take home his first UFC victory.
Strawweight: Zhang Weili def. Jessica Aguilar via submission (armbar), round 1 (3:41).
Zhang Weili got an early takedown on Jessica Aguilar and from side control the Chinese fighter wailed on the ATT veteran with vicious elbows. She opened a cut over Aguilar’s right eye almost immediately. From there Weili continued to land brutal elbows, causing more blood to flow. Aguilar was unable to shift Weili and with less than two minutes left the hometown favourite hopped to full mount and locked in a tight triangle. From there Weili threw more elbows, causing yet more blood. She then quickly transitioned to a deep arm bar, which elicited a quick tap from the former WSOF strawweight champ.
Bantamweight: Liu Pingyuan def. Martin Day via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).
Liu Pingyuan went for a takedown early in round one after catching Martin Day’s leg, but the Hawaiian showed tremendous balance to stay on his feet. After some pot-shotting from distance, Pingyuan caught another Day kick and again worked for a takedown against the fence. Day defended well, leaving Pingyuan to resort to jumping on a guillotine, which looked tight up against the fence. But Day popped out of it and got the action back to the feet. At distance, the fight was a stalemate, with neither fighter able to land anything hard before Pingyuan dived on an ultimately unsuccessful takedown attempt.
Round two started with fun striking exchanges with Day flashing kicks and Pingyuan wading forwards with punches. Neither landed much before Pingyuan went for another takedown against the fence. Day was equal to it, though, pushing Pingyuan back to the canvas and landing on top of him. On the ground Pingyuan was active with his legs looking for submissions, but Day was able to avoid that and step back up. On the feet Day found success attacking Pingyuan’s body with front kicks.
In the final round Day continued to look dangerous from distance, forcing Pingyuan to step back and carefully plan out his forays forwards. On one run forward he caught Day clean with a right hand that dropped the American. Pingyuan pounced on top of him attempting a choke, but Day reversed the position and went for a d’arce of his own. Pingyuan stayed calm though and worked his way out of it, finding himself on Day’s back hunting for an arm. The remainder of the fight was spent in this position, which was enough for Pingyuan to take a razor thin decision.
Strawweight: Yan Xiaonan def. Syuri Kondo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Yan Xiaonan spent the first round versus Syuri Kondo flurrying forwards with lightning fast combinations, catching Kondo with multiple strikes each time. Kondo looked shell shocked and resorted to trying to maintain distance while she attempted to figure out where Xiaonan’s next attack would come from. In the later stages of the round Kondo was able to land some counter-punches, but she had to take two or three punches from Xiaonan to land them. To finish the round Xiaonan caught Kondo with a spinning elbow.
Round two resembled the first, with Kondo hanging tough and looking to land single shots. But Xiaonan with swift and slick in darting in with combos that were landing more than they were missing. Kondo made a point to be more aggressive, trying to walk down Xiaonan, but this just meant she was getting stunned with jabs and kicks to the legs and body as she came into range.
Round three was the same story; though with Kondo showing more urgency — no doubt knowing she was down by two rounds. But Xiaonan hadn’t slowed down by much and was continuing to befuddle her opponent with feints and footwork that led to speedy combinations. Kondo was wearing the fight in the form of redness in her face and thigh, but that didn’t stop her coming forwards and trying to change the fight. However, her offense was predictable and Xiaonan wasn’t worried by it. In the end the judges had an easy decision when granting Xiaonan her third UFC win in a row.
Middleweight: Kevin Holland def. John Phillips via submission (rear naked choke), round 3 (4:05).
In the opening minutes of round one John Phillips played aggressor, trying to stalk down Kevin Holland and throw heavy punches at him. Holland was content to play counter-striker and try and catch the Welshman coming in. The first meaningful strikes of the fight were front kicks from Holland, one to Phillips’ chin and another to Phillips’ body; which caused a grimace. Holland followed up those strikes with flurries of punches and kicks, some of which landed clean. Phillips recovered though and then came forward throwing punches, but Holland caught him in a clinch and landed hard knees to the body. The remainder of the round was spent with Phillips trying to catch the elusive Holland with home-run swings, while Holland scored with crafty teeps to the leg and punches to the body.
Holland looked confident in round two, chatting with Phillips before the bell and laughing as they entered striking range. But he was sat down by Phillips after thirty seconds with a hard right hand to the jaw. The American got up quickly and nodded to his opponent to acknowledge the blow. Some wild exchanges followed up against the fence with Holland blocking most of Phillips’ offense with his forearms. Though a few punches did creep through. After throwing dozens of punches Phillips slowed and Holland began beating him to the punch in the centre of the cage. Phillips did wade forwards swinging a few more times in the round, catching Holland with one out of five looping strikes. But Holland was able to respond with accurate, and creative, counter-shots.
Holland went for the first takedown attempt of the fight in the first minute of round three. And it worked, putting Phillips on his back momentarily and allowing Holland to take his back as he attempted to stand. Holland took Phillips down again and landed bothersome ground and pound against the cage. Phillips didn’t have any answers for Holland. He got up momentarily after a missed rear naked choke attempt, but Holland took him right back down, with authority. From there Holland got full mount, but was reversed by Phillips. Phillips tried to get the action back to the feet, but Holland crawled forwards, taking him down. From there Holland snapped on a slick RNC for the finish.
Bantamweight: Louis Smolka def. Su Mudaerji via submission (armbar), round 2 (2:07).
In his return to UFC action, Louis Smolka took the fight immediately to Su Mudaerji, launching a takedown attempt from the first second of the fight. That resulted in a clinch against the cage, where both men landed knees to the body. After separating Mudaerji swung wildly, but was unable to hit Smolka or stop him getting in deep on a single leg takedown. That position eventually led to Smolka getting Mudaerji down on the mat. Trademark Smolka scrambling exchanges followed, with the Hawaiian able to remain on top throughout. Smolka landed some ground and pound and was eventually able to find Mudaerji’s back, where he threatened with a series of rear naked choke attempts and hard strikes to the back and side of the head.
In the second round Smolka advanced looking for a takedown and ate a few shots from Mudaerji. But that didn’t prevent Smolka from getting the job done. On the ground Mudaerji attempted an armbar, but Smolka was able to defend and end up in full mount. Mudaerji gave up his back and then tried rolling for a leglock, then he threw up a triangle. But Smolka was wise to all of. After some scrambling, Smolka set-up and delivered a straight armbar that forced Mudaerji to tap.